System and method for interactively simulating a credit-worthiness score

ABSTRACT

A system and method is provided to allow a consumer to interactively explore his credit score by submitting hypothetical values based on his actual credit data. The system uses the consumer&#39;s real credit data and the submitted hypothetical values to calculate a simulated credit score based on a simulator scorecard. The consumer may then observe the changes in the resultant scores. The system and the scorecard may utilize fewer data elements than a complete credit-worthiness scorecard and may instead focus on the key elements affecting a consumer&#39;s credit score. The system may be implemented in part on a web server or as a stand-alone application. The system may also update the score dynamically as the consumer adjusts the hypothetical values or may require the consumer to affirmatively submit the new hypothetical data.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system and method for teachingconsumers about the interaction of credit data elements in determining acredit risk score. More particularly, the present invention relates to asystem and method for simulating a consumer's credit risk score and forproviding the consumer the opportunity to adjust his credit data tohypothetical values in order to observe the changes in the simulatedscore.

2. Description of Background Art

The practice of predicting a consumer's credit-worthiness is well known.Conventional credit-worthiness, or credit risk, analysis focuses on aconsumer's credit history and other factors to determine whether creditshould be offered or granted to the consumer.

Conventional credit risk analysis utilizes a risk model, or scorecard,to give a relative weight to each data element in the credit history toprovide a credit-worthiness score. These models vary from provider toprovider depending on the needs of the financial institution requestingthe credit score. The methodology behind creating a risk model is knownin the art.

Financial institutions that request a consumer's credit-worthiness scoredo so for several reasons. First, institutions often pre-screenpotential applicants to determine to whom they should mail an offer ofcredit and at what terms. Typically, an institution will provide a scorecut-off or tiered system for providing various terms and rates todifferent credit-worthiness score brackets. Pre-screening is usedprimarily to generate new business for the institution. Second,businesses use the credit-worthiness score in granting real-timerequests by a consumer for a line of credit. This may include applyingfor a home mortgage, buying a car, or opening a new credit card accountat the point of sale. In these instances, the credit score is requestedand compared against the institution's credit risk policy to determinewhether the new line of credit will be provided.

With creditors and lenders placing such a large emphasis on a consumer'scredit-worthiness score, it is common for a consumer to want to improvehis score. Typically, the scorecards utilize complex mathematical modelsand algorithms to arrive at a credit-worthiness score. The complexity ofthe scoring process is a stumbling block for consumers who want tounderstand how their scores were generated and how to improve theirscores. Conventional attempts to educate consumers have failed toprovide clear answers to consumers' questions. Most credit scoringvendors have deliberately withheld information on how credit scores aregenerated for fear of adding additional levels of confusion.Explanations and tutorials offered to consumers have beennon-interactive and text-based. Furthermore, conventional solutions havenot used the consumer's own credit data to illustrate the process.

Therefore there is a need for a system that (1) provides information tothe consumer regarding score improvement, (2) uses the consumer's owncredit data to illustrate the score generation process, and (3) allowsthe user to interact with the system and to experiment with differentcredit data in order to explore the hypothetical changes in hiscredit-worthiness score.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and method for simulating a consumer's credit-worthiness scorebased on both initial data and consumer-modified data is described. Inone embodiment, the initial data is credit bureau data associated with aparticular consumer. In another embodiment, the initial data is censusbureau data based on the average consumer. In yet another embodiment,the initial data can be made more relevant to the particular consumer byrefining the census bureau data based on certain factors such aslocation, age, and profession.

In one embodiment, the system includes a client terminal, a simulatorserver, a credit data server, and a scorecard data server. The clientterminal and the data servers are each coupled to the simulator server.The client terminal and simulator server are configured to allow aconsumer using the client terminal to communicate interactively with thesimulator server to explore various aspects and factors comprising hiscredit-worthiness score. The simulator server calculates an initialcredit-worthiness score by applying a simulator scorecard to data fromthe credit data server and then presents the consumer with options formodifying this data. The consumer is prompted to adjust the values ofthe initial data to produce modified data in order to observe theresultant change in his credit score. As the data is adjusted, thesimulator server uses the simulator scorecard to recalculate thecredit-worthiness score based on any unaltered initial data and themodified data.

In a preferred embodiment, the recalculation of the credit score isperformed automatically by the simulator server and does not require anexplicit submission of the modified data by the consumer.

In another embodiment, the simulator server utilizes a simulatorscorecard that calculates the credit-worthiness score based on only aportion of the credit data commonly used to calculate credit scores.Since only a portion of the credit data is used, the resulting creditscore is an approximation of what the credit score would be had all ofthe information been used. By using a smaller set of data elements, thesystem is able to respond more quickly to a consumer's submittedmodified data, and the interface with the consumer is simpler. Thisallows the consumer to focus on the key data elements, which greatlyaffect his score, without having to worry about all the less importantdata elements, which only refine his score. The simulator server alsoanalyzes the initial data to determine which subset of data elementsmost affect the consumer's score and calculates the simulated scorebased on the values of those elements. In one embodiment, those dataelements are the only data elements presented to the consumer for thesubmission of modified data.

In yet another embodiment, the data values are presented in the form ofgraphical slider bars, first set to the initial data values. Theconsumer adjusts the data values by clicking and dragging the graphicalslider bars to new values. In a preferred embodiment, as a graphicalslider bar is dragged, the simulator score is updated. This allows theuser to gain an understanding of how his credit data affects his scoreand helps the consumer to plan an effective path to better credit.

In the preferred embodiment, the client terminal, simulator server,scorecard data server, and credit data server are each coupled to anetwork in order to communicate with each other. In an alternateembodiment, the system is self-contained, with the client terminal,simulator server, scorecard data server, and credit data server allresiding on one computer. The computer is a general-purpose computer ora computer specifically optimized to calculate the simulated scores.

In yet another embodiment, the client terminal is implemented as a webbrowser. In this embodiment, the client terminal is situated at a pointacross the network from the simulator server or is co-located with thesimulator server. Additionally, in this embodiment the simulator servercreates and serves a web page to the client terminal for interactingwith the consumer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way oflimitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which likereference numerals refer to similar elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram overview of one embodiment of asystem for simulating a credit-worthiness score based on initial andmodified credit data.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of thearchitecture of the simulator server.

FIG. 3 illustrates a more detailed block diagram of the contents of thememory unit in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 a illustrates how data gets into the working data memory.

FIG. 4 b illustrates how data gets into the scorecard memory.

FIG. 4 c is a diagram of the data flow through the simulated scoregenerator.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of a methodfor simulating a credit-worthiness score based on initial and modifiedcredit data.

FIG. 6 a illustrates one embodiment of the user interface shown on aclient terminal.

FIG. 6 b illustrates the embodiment depicted in FIG. 6 a showingmodified data being entered.

FIG. 6 c illustrates the embodiment depicted in FIG. 6 a showing theresultant score simulation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Financial risk scores, along with their associated risk models, aredesigned to predict future consumer financial behaviors such asdelinquency, bankruptcy, and profitability. One example of a financialrisk score is the credit-worthiness score. While the invention can beused in conjunction with any financial risk score, the embodimentsdescribed below address credit-worthiness scores in particular.Specifically, a system and method for simulating a credit-worthinessscore based on initial and modified credit data is described.

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to oneskilled in the art that the invention can be practiced without thesespecific details. In other instances, structures and devices are shownin block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the invention.

Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic describedin connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodimentof the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same embodiment.

Some portions of the detailed descriptions that follow are presented interms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on databits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are the means used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their workto others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desiredresult. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physicalquantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take theform of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored,transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It hasproven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, torefer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters,terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the followingdiscussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description,discussions utilizing terms such as “processing” or “computing” or“calculating” or “determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to theaction and processes of a computer system, or similar electroniccomputing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented asphysical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registersand memories into other data similarly represented as physicalquantities within the computer system memories or registers or othersuch information storage, transmission, or display devices.

The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing theoperations herein. This apparatus is specially constructed for therequired purposes, or it comprises a general-purpose computerselectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored inthe computer. Such a computer program is stored in a computer readablestorage medium, such as, but not limited to, any type of disk includingfloppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks,read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs,EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable forstoring electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer systembus.

The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently relatedto any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purposesystems are used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein,or more specialized apparatus are constructed to perform the requiredmethod steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems willappear from the description below. In addition, the present invention isnot described with reference to any particular programming language. Itwill be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be usedto implement the teachings of the invention as described herein.

Overview

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram overview of one embodiment of asystem 101 for simulating a credit-worthiness score based on initial andmodified credit data. Generally, system 101 includes a simulator server110, a client terminal 120, a credit data server 130, and a scorecarddata server 140. Client terminal 120 is a general-purpose computercapable of running a web browser or other user-interface program or itis a limited-function electronic device configured to communicate withthe simulator server 110. The simulator server 110 is anygeneral-purpose computer configured to serve web pages or communicatewith the client terminal 120. It may be advantageous to utilize ageneral-purpose computer configured to be an information-server capableof handling communications with multiple client terminals 120. Likewise,credit data server 130 and scorecard data server 140 are general-purposecomputers configured to provide remote access to stored data.

The client terminal 120 and the data servers 130 and 140 are eachcoupled to the simulator server 110. The client terminal 120 andsimulator server 110 are configured to allow a consumer using the clientterminal to communicate interactively with the simulator server 110. Ina preferred embodiment, the client terminal 120 is communicativelycoupled to the simulator server 110 via a communications network 150,such as the Internet. This facilitates the centralization andsegmentation of the system 101 for ease of maintenance andaccessibility.

System 101 operates as follows. A consumer who wishes to learn howcredit data affects credit-worthiness scores uses client terminal 120 tocommunicate with simulator server 110. The simulator server 110retrieves scorecard data from the scorecard data server 140 such as viaa LAN 160. The scorecard data server 140 contains one or more simulatorscorecards for use by the simulator server 110. Generally, eachscorecard provides a metric for the simulator server 110 to weighinformation contained in the retrieved credit data to simulate thecredit-worthiness score. Scorecards represent these weights ascoefficients. In a preferred embodiment, the simulator server 110 uses asimulator scorecard that simulates the scoring process of the creditindustry's generic scoring method. In an alternate embodiment, theconsumer is able to select which scoring method to simulate and thus thescorecard data server 140 includes additional simulator scorecards foreach scoring method.

The simulator server 110 also communicates with the credit data server130 to obtain credit data such as via a LAN 160. The credit dataincludes information related to a consumer's credit-worthiness. In apreferred embodiment, this information includes credit data that isgenerally collected by a credit bureau. However, one skilled in the artwill recognize that other data may either replace or supplement thecredit data in generating and simulating the credit-worthiness score.

In one embodiment, the credit data server 130 holds credit bureau data.In this embodiment, the consumer provides information sufficient toidentify himself (hereinafter “consumer identification data”). In oneembodiment, the consumer identification data includes the consumer'sname, social security number, current address, or any otherdistinguishing data for ensuring that the correct credit data isassociated with the consumer. In a preferred embodiment, the consumeridentification data needs to be entered only once and is stored in aprofile on the system 101. During subsequent uses, the consumer signsinto the system 101 to have the profile provide the consumeridentification data. The profile would be provided to only those userswho possess the correct security credentials, such as passwords oraccess cards. In this embodiment, the profile would be stored on acomputer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium could be storedin the client terminal 120, in the simulator server 110, or elsewhere insystem 101.

The client terminal 120 transmits the consumer identification data tothe simulator server 110. The simulator server 110 then transmits theconsumer identification data to the credit data server 130. The creditdata server 130 then returns credit data corresponding to the particularconsumer. While this embodiment enables the consumer to experiment withhis own actual credit data, it is not always the preferred embodimentbecause pulling actual credit data can cost money and adversely affectone's credit rating.

In another embodiment, the credit data server 130 holds census bureaudata based on the average consumer. In this embodiment, the consumerdoes not provide any information about himself. Although credit datatransmitted from the credit data server 130 to the simulator server 110is not specific to the consumer, it provides a starting point for theconsumer to explore the effect that credit data has on acredit-worthiness score.

In yet another embodiment, the credit data server 130 also holds censusbureau data, but the consumer provides some information about himself.In one embodiment, the information corresponds to the categories ofinformation stored by the census bureau, such as location, age, andprofession. The client terminal 120 transmits this information to thesimulator server 110. The simulator server 110 then transmits theinformation to the credit data server 130. The credit data server 130then returns credit data based on the information. This embodimentallows the credit data returned to be more relevant to the specificconsumer while not experiencing the disadvantages of pulling theconsumer's actual credit report.

Once the simulator scorecard and credit data have been obtained, thesimulator server 110 uses the simulator scorecard and credit data tocalculate an initial simulated score. The simulator server 110 thenoutputs this score to the client terminal 120. In one embodiment, thescore is a simple numerical value, such as is shown in FIGS. 6 a-6 c(described below). In another embodiment, the score is a valuerepresenting a characteristic of a financial transaction, such as a loanlimit or a loan percentage rate. Many other forms of scores are alsopossible.

The consumer interactively adjusts the values of the initial credit dataelements via the client terminal 120. The client terminal 120 thentransmits the modified credit data to the simulator server 110. Thesimulator server 110 receives the modified credit data and substitutesthe modified credit data for the corresponding initial credit dataretrieved from the credit data server 130. The simulator server 110 thenrecalculates a credit-worthiness score based on the metric of theselected scorecard data and the modified credit data. In one embodiment,the recalculated score is output alongside the initial score to theclient terminal 120 to allow the consumer to interactively compare theeffect of the changes on the credit-worthiness score.

In a preferred embodiment, the simulator server 110 communicates withthe client terminal 120 via a web page. This web page is served by thesimulator server 110 and typically runs on the client terminal 120. Theweb page allows for user entry of the consumer identification data, themodified data, and the additional consumer information. The clientterminal 120 also receives the simulated score from the simulator server110 and displays it on the web page. In a preferred embodiment, theentry of the modified data is interactive, allowing the simulated scoreto be recalculated dynamically by the simulator server 110 responsive tochanges in the initial data, without requiring the user to actually“submit” the changes to the simulator server 110. The user interface forthe client terminal 120 will be discussed in greater detail below.

One skilled in the art will recognize that other communicationtopologies exist that fall within the spirit of the invention. Forexample, in an alternate embodiment, the simulator server 110, creditdata server 130, scorecard data server 140, and client terminal 120 allreside or originate locally in one general-purpose computer system.Furthermore, the present invention advantageously simulates creditscoring methods currently used in the credit industry to aid theconsumer in determining the best manner in which to improve his credit.As the credit industry changes scoring methods, the present inventionmay be adapted to these new methods as well.

Simulator Server

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a preferred embodiment ofsimulator server 110. Simulator server 110 preferably includes aprocessor 210, a main memory 220, a data storage device 230, and anetwork controller 280, all of which are communicatively coupled to asystem bus 240.

Processor 210 processes data signals and comprises various computingarchitectures including a complex instruction set computer (CISC)architecture, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture, oran architecture implementing a combination of instruction sets. Althoughonly a single processor is shown in FIG. 2, multiple processors may beincluded.

Main memory 220 stores instructions and/or data that are executed byprocessor 210. The instructions and/or data comprise code for performingany and/or all of the techniques described herein. Main memory 220 ispreferably a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device, a static randomaccess memory (SRAM) device, or some other memory device known in theart.

Data storage device 230 stores data and instructions for processor 210and comprises one or more devices including a hard disk drive, a floppydisk drive, a CD-ROM device, a DVD-ROM device, a DVD-RAM device, aDVD-RW device, a flash memory device, or some other mass storage deviceknown in the art.

Network controller 280 links simulator server 110 to a network 150 thatmay include multiple processing systems. In a preferred embodiment, thecredit data server 130, the scorecard data server 140, and the clientterminal 120 are also connected to the network 150. The network 150comprises a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) (e.g.,the Internet), and/or any other interconnected data path across whichmultiple devices may communicate.

System bus 240 represents a shared bus for communicating information anddata throughout simulator server 110. System bus 240 represents one ormore buses including an industry standard architecture (ISA) bus, aperipheral component interconnect (PCI) bus, a universal serial bus(USB), or some other bus known in the art to provide similarfunctionality.

Additional components that may be coupled to simulator server 110through system bus 240 include a display device 250, a keyboard 260, anda cursor control device 270. Display device 250 represents any deviceequipped to display electronic images and data to a local user ormaintainer. Display device 250 is a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquidcrystal display (LCD), or any other similarly equipped display device,screen, or monitor. Keyboard 260 represents an alphanumeric input devicecoupled to simulator server 110 to communicate information and commandselections to processor 210. Cursor control device 270 represents a userinput device equipped to communicate positional data as well as commandselections to processor 210. Cursor control 270 includes a mouse, atrackball, a stylus, a pen, cursor direction keys, or other mechanismsto cause movement of a cursor.

It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that simulator server110 includes more or fewer components than those shown in FIG. 2 withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Forexample, simulator server 110 may include additional memory, such as,for example, a first or second level cache or one or more applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs). As noted above, simulator server110 may be comprised solely of ASICs. In addition, components may becoupled to simulator server 110 including, for example, image scanningdevices, digital still or video cameras, or other devices that may ormay not be equipped to capture and/or download electronic data to/fromsimulator server 110.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of memory unit 220. Generally, memory unit 220comprises several code modules for simulating a credit-worthiness score,responding to consumer identification data, and presenting the userinterface for output on client terminal 120. Specifically, the codemodules in memory unit 220 include: a main program 301, an initialcredit data retriever 305, a scorecard retriever 310, a simulated scoregenerator 315, a static data formatter 320, an interactive dataformatter 325, a user interface server 330, a modified credit dataretriever 335, a modified credit data parser 340, and a user informationretriever 375.

Memory unit 220 also contains several memory storage areas for storingvarious bytes of data required by the operation of the code modules 301,305, 310, 315, 320, 325, 330, 335, and 340. Specifically, memory unit220 includes an initial credit data memory 350, a scorecard memory 355,an initial score memory 360, a modified score memory 365, and a workingdata memory 370.

All code modules and memories 305, 310, 315, 320, 325, 330, 335, 340,350, 355, 360, 365, 370, and 375 are communicatively coupled with mainprogram 301. Main program 301 centrally controls the operation andprocess flow of simulator server 110, transmitting instructions and datato as well as receiving data from each code module and memory 305, 310,315, 320, 325, 330, 335, 340, 350, 355, 360, 365, 370, and 275. Theoperation of memories 350, 355, 360, 365, and 370 and code modules 301,305, 310, 315, 320, 325, 330, 335, 340, and 375 in memory unit 220 isbest shown in FIGS. 4 a-4 c.

FIG. 4 a illustrates how data gets into the working data memory 370.Initially, the data stored in working data memory 370 comes from thecredit data server 130 as follows. The credit data server 130 is coupledto the initial credit data retriever 305. The credit data server 130receives a query from the initial credit data retriever 305. Based oninformation in the query, the credit data server 130 transmits creditdata to the initial credit data retriever 305.

In one embodiment, there is a user information retriever 375 that iscoupled to the client terminal 120 and the initial credit data retriever305. When the user enters information about himself at client terminal120 (either information sufficient to identify himself or otherinformation such as location or salary), client terminal 120 transmitsthis information to the user information retriever 375. The userinformation retriever 375 then transmits this information to the initialcredit data retriever 305. The initial credit data retriever 305 usesthis information to refine its query to the credit data server 130, asdescribed above.

The initial credit data retriever 305 is coupled to the credit dataserver 130, the initial credit data memory 350, and the working datamemory 370. Once the initial credit data retriever 305 has receivedcredit data from the credit data server 130, the initial credit dataretriever 305 transmits this credit data to the initial credit datamemory 350 and the working data memory 370.

The initial credit data memory 350 is coupled to the initial credit dataretriever 305. Once the initial credit data memory 350 has receivedcredit data from the initial credit data retriever 305, the initialcredit data memory 350 stores this credit data. The working data memory370 is also coupled to the initial credit data retriever 305 (inaddition to being coupled to the modified credit data parser 340, asdescribed below). Once the working data memory 370 has received creditdata from the initial credit data retriever 305, the working data memory370 stores this credit data.

Since the working data memory 370 now has initial credit data, simulatedscore generator 315 (see FIG. 4 c) outputs the initial credit score.This score is then stored in initial score memory 360, as described inFIG. 4 c.

When a user modifies the initial credit data, the entire set of creditdata (both modified data and initial data, if any) is stored in workingdata memory 370 as follows. The client terminal 120 is coupled to themodified credit data retriever 335. The user uses client terminal 120 tomodify the initial credit data. The client terminal 120 transmits themodified credit data to modified credit data retriever 335.

The modified credit data retriever 335 is coupled to the client terminal120 and the modified credit data parser 340. Once the modified creditdata retriever 335 has received the modified credit data from the clientterminal 120, it transmits the data to the modified credit data parser340. The modified credit data parser 340 is coupled to the modifiedcredit data retriever 335 and the working data memory 370. Once themodified credit data parser 340 has received the modified credit datafrom the modified credit data retriever 335, it transmits the modifiedcredit data to the working data memory 370. The credit data values inworking data memory 370 that the user modified are thereby set to thenew (modified) values, while the unchanged data (if any) remains at thesame initial values. Since the working data memory 370 now has modifiedcredit data, simulated score generator 315 recalculates the credit scoreand outputs it. This score is then stored in modified score memory 365,as described in FIG. 4 c.

FIG. 4 b illustrates how data gets into the scorecard memory 355. Thedata stored in scorecard memory 355 comes from the scorecard data server140 as follows. The scorecard data server 140 is coupled to thescorecard retriever 310. The scorecard data server 140 receives arequest for a scorecard from scorecard retriever 310. Based oninformation in the request, scorecard data server 140 transmitsscorecard data to scorecard retriever 310.

Scorecard retriever 310 is coupled to scorecard data server 140 andscorecard memory 355. Once scorecard retriever 310 has receivedscorecard data from the scorecard data server 140, the scorecardretriever 310 transmits this scorecard data to the scorecard memory 355.

The scorecard memory 355 is coupled to the scorecard retriever 310. Oncethe scorecard memory 355 has received scorecard data from the scorecardretriever 310, the scorecard memory 355 stores this scorecard data.

FIG. 4 c is a diagram of the data processing through the simulated scoregenerator 315. Simulated score generator 315 is coupled to working datamemory 370, scorecard memory 355, initial score memory 360, and modifiedscore memory 365. Simulated score generator 315 takes as inputs data inthe working data memory 370 and data in the scorecard memory 355.Simulated score generator 315 then calculates a credit-worthiness scoreusing the scorecard data in the scorecard memory 355 and the credit datain the working data memory 370. This score is then transmitted to eitherinitial score memory 360 or modified score memory 365, depending onwhether the credit data in working data memory 370 was initial creditdata or contained some modified credit data, respectively. Initial scorememory 360 or modified score memory 365 then stores the received score.

Static data formatter 320 and interactive data formatter 325 prepare theuser interface that is shown on client terminal 120 via user interfaceserver 330. Static data formatter 320 is coupled to initial credit datamemory 350, initial score memory 360, and modified score memory 365.Static data formatter 320 receives data from these three memories andformats that data. Interactive data formatter 325 is coupled to initialcredit data memory 350 and working data memory 370. Interactive dataformatter 325 receives data from these two memories and formats thedata. User interface server 330 is coupled to static data formatter 320and interactive data formatter 325. User interface server 330 receivesas inputs formatted data from both the static data formatter 320 and theinteractive data formatter 325 and transmits to client terminal 120 asingle integrated user interface.

Start-Up/First Pass

The general method implemented by main program 301 is furtherillustrated in FIG. 5. A consumer accesses system 101 via clientterminal 120 in order to learn how credit data affects credit-worthinessscores. The first pass of the system 101 provides the consumer with aninitial simulated score. This score will be based on credit data and canvary depending on whether the credit data comes from a credit bureau,the census bureau, or another source. The system 101 then allows theconsumer to submit modified credit data to view how changing credit dataaffect credit-worthiness scores.

In one embodiment, the consumer provides no information to the system.In another embodiment, he provides either consumer identification dataor some information (but not enough to identify himself). If theconsumer provides any information, the client terminal 120 transmits theinformation to the simulator server 110, and the information is received505. Initial credit data retriever 305 then uses this information (ifany) to obtain 510 initial credit data from credit data server 130.Credit data retriever 305 then stores 525 the initial credit data inworking data memory 370 as described in FIG. 4 b.

Next, the scorecard retriever 310 retrieves 530 the simulator scorecardas described in FIG. 4 c. The simulated score generator 315 then appliesthe scorecard coefficients stored in scorecard memory 355 to the creditdata stored in working data memory 370 to generate 545 an initialsimulated credit-worthiness score.

In a preferred embodiment, the set of elements chosen for inclusion inthe score calculation is smaller than the total set of elements presentin the credit data. By working with a smaller set of data elements, thesimulator server 110 more quickly calculates the simulated score,providing a response almost instantly. However, the returned score maynot be absolutely accurate since it is based on a smaller subset ofcredit data. The simulator scorecard approximates an industry-standardcredit score based on the full set of credit data while using a smallersubset of the data.

In the preferred embodiment, the set of elements is chosen to reflectthe data that most strongly influences the consumer's credit score, thusproviding the consumer with the best idea of which aspects of his creditdata he should try to improve first. In one embodiment, these elementsare predetermined and the set is constant across all consumers. Inanother embodiment, the system determines which elements are mostinfluential in a particular consumer's credit score and selects thoseelements. One method for making such a determination includes examiningthe weighted value of all the received data elements and choosing a setincluding the highest valued elements. The system 101 may select onlythe elements already existing in the received credit data or,alternatively, may look for possible large swings in the modified scoreby introducing a new type of data element. Examples of such a dataelement include salary level and ownership of major assets. For example,the modified data might include ownership of a home, while the initialdata did not. One skilled in the art will recognize other methods fordetermining the set of data elements to be included in the scoringprocedure.

Once the score is generated 545, the simulated score generator 315stores the simulated score in both the initial score memory 360 and inthe modified score memory 365. By storing the score in both memories 360and 365, the static data formatter 320 is able to operate in the samemanner regardless of whether the system is in the first pass or anotherpass for any given consumer. This is done in the preferred embodiment sothat the user interface may display a modified value and an initialvalue that are the same when the interface is first presented. However,in an alternate embodiment, the simulated score generator 315 couldstore the simulated score just in the initial score memory 360. Thiswould result in the user interface displaying only an initial valueuntil the user has input modified data and the credit score wasrecalculated for the modified data at least one time.

In subsequent passes, the simulated score generator 315 will apply thescorecard coefficients to a set of modified credit data. As discussedabove, this will be a direct result of the consumer's submission ofmodified data. As will be discussed in further detail below, the data inworking data memory 370 will be overwritten with the modified creditdata, and the simulated score generator 315 will recalculate thecredit-worthiness score. However, unlike in the first pass, therecalculated score will be stored only in the modified score memory 365,not in the initial score memory 360. This will preserve the initialscore in the initial score memory 360 for output to the client terminal120.

Static formatter 320 retrieves the credit data from initial credit datamemory 350 and both scores from initial score memory 360 and modifiedscore memory 365 and formats 550 the information for output to theconsumer via user interface server 330 and the client terminal 120.Interactive data formatter 325 selects and formats 555 various elementsfrom the initial credit data memory 350 and the working data memory 370for inclusion in the user interface presented to the consumer via userinterface server 330 to client terminal 120.

As discussed above, in one embodiment, the simulator server 110 utilizesonly a subset of the available credit data for a consumer whencalculating the simulated score. As discussed above, this helps thescore simulator more quickly calculate the updated scores due to fewerpossible variables. In another embodiment, the interactive dataformatter 325 presents only a subset of the data to the consumer formodification. In this way, the consumer is presented with the mostcommon factors affecting credit-worthiness, while the simulator server110 bases its calculations on additional credit data that is not madeavailable to the consumer for modification.

Once the scores, data, and user interface have been formatted 550 andthe interactive data has been selected and formatted 555, the userinterface server 330 combines the information and outputs 560 thecombined user interface to the client terminal 120 for viewing andinteraction by the consumer. Once the information has been output 560,the system waits 565 for the consumer to submit modified credit data viathe user interface.

Processing Modified Data

Once the consumer submits the modified credit data, it is received 570by the modified credit data retriever 335 and passed to the modifiedcredit data parser 340. The modified credit data parser 340 merges 573the received (modified) credit data with the credit data stored inworking data memory 370 and stores the resulting data into the workingdata memory 370. In this embodiment, the data in initial credit datamemory 350 remains unchanged once it is stored during the first pass.This allows the consumer to compare the initial credit data with thenewly input modified credit data and see the resulting change in thecredit score.

In an alternate embodiment, after the consumer submits modified creditdata, but before the modified data is merged with the data in workingdata memory 370, the data in working data memory 370 is stored ininitial credit data memory 350. In addition, the data in modified scorememory 365 is stored in initial score memory 360. In this embodiment,the data in initial credit data memory 350 and initial score memory 360is the data used in and calculated by the previous pass of the system101, respectively. In other words, this embodiment allows the consumerto compare the previous pass credit data with the newly input modifiedcredit data and see the resulting change in the credit score.

The scorecard retriever 310 retrieves 530 the simulator scorecard asdescribed in FIG. 4 c. The simulated score generator 315 then appliesthe scorecard coefficients stored in scorecard memory 355 to the creditdata stored in working data memory 370 to generate 545 a recalculatedsimulated credit-worthiness score. The recalculated score is then storedin modified score memory 365 for use by the static data formatter 320.

Static data formatter 320 formats 550 the initial score stored ininitial score memory 360, the newly recalculated score stored inmodified score memory 365, and the credit data stored in the initialcredit data memory 350 in a similar fashion as during the first pass ofthe system. The interactive data formatter 325 likewise receives the newworking data and the credit data from their respective memories 370 and350 and formats 555 the user interface to reflect the consumer's latestsubmission of modified credit data as stored in the working data memory370.

Once the user interface server 330 outputs 560 the information to theclient terminal 120, the system 101 again waits 565 to see whether theconsumer submits additional modified data. If new modified data issubmitted, the system 101 begins the process again with the modifieddata retriever 335 receiving 570 the modified credit data.

FIGS. 6 a-6 c illustrate a preferred embodiment of the user interfacetransmitted to the client terminal 120. FIG. 6 a illustrates a preferredembodiment of the user interface 601 outputted 560 during the first passof the system 101, before modified data has been submitted. The firstpass user interface 601 includes a score comparison section 605 a and aninteractive section 610 a.

The score comparison section 605 a includes bar graph 615 representingthe range of possible credit scores. In the embodiment illustrated inFIGS. 6 a-6 c, the score is a simple numerical value, and a higher scorereflects a higher degree of credit-worthiness. In another embodiment,the score is a value representing a characteristic of a financialtransaction, such as a loan limit or a loan percentage rate. Many otherforms of scores are also possible.

Score comparison section 605 a also includes an indicator 620 showingthe consumer's initial credit-worthiness, and a second indicator 625 a,which shows the consumer's recalculated credit-worthiness score based onsubmitted modified data. Note that during the first pass, the twoindicators 620, 625 a point to the same value. As will be discussedbelow, once modified credit data has been submitted by the consumer, thesecond indicator 625 a will move to a different value allowing theconsumer to both numerically and visually compare the effects ofchanging the data.

While the score comparison section 605 a has been illustrated asincluding a bar-graph 615 and two indicators 620, 625 a showing therelative positions of the scores, one skilled in the art will recognizethat other graphical or textual methods exist by which to enable theconsumer to compare his initial score with a recalculated score.

The interactive section 610 a includes several elements relating toselected data elements in the received credit data. As illustrated,these include the total revolving credit card balance owed 630 a, thetotal revolving credit card limit, the number of inquires from creditapplications, and the number of accounts the consumer is currently latein paying. This discussion will focus on the first element 630 a, thetotal revolving credit card balance owed, when describing the operationof the preferred embodiment of the first pass display 601. It will beapparent to one skilled in the art that the remaining elements in theinteractive section 610 a may operate in a similar manner. Likewise, itwill be apparent to one skilled in the art that additional or differentdata elements may be included in the interactive section 610 a.

Element 630 a includes a legend 632 identifying the nature of the dataelement displayed and providing a scale by which to interpret theremaining parts of first element 630 a. First element 630 a alsoincludes an initial value indicator 635, which reflects the value of thecorresponding data from the retrieved credit data, and a graphicalslider 640 a whose value initially matches the initial value indicator635, but may subsequently be manipulated by the consumer to submit themodified credit data. Finally, first element 630 a includes aninformation point 645 where the consumer may access information or helpregarding the associated data element or regarding the operation of theclient terminal 120. While the preferred embodiment utilizes a graphicalslider element, one skilled in the art will recognize that variousmethods may exist by which the consumer may be informed of their initialdata values and may adjust the modified values. One such alternativeincludes a text-based system wherein the consumer simply types in a newvalue in for the element in order to submit the modified credit data.

FIG. 6 b illustrates the user interface 602 while the consumer issubmitting modified data through client terminal 120. While the userinterface 602 includes the same elements as the first pass display 601,the second indicator 625 b and the data element 630 b have been modifiedto reflect the changes submitted by the consumer.

As illustrated, the consumer is in the process of adjusting the valuefor element 630 b. The adjustment is accomplished by clicking on thegraphical slider 640 b and dragging it in a horizontal direction, asindicated by arrow 650. It should be understood that any one of themultiple elements (e.g., total revolving credit card balance, totalrevolving credit card limit, number of credit applications, and numberof late accounts) affecting credit could be modified in a similarmanner. Note that arrow 650 is not part of the user interface; it isincluded in FIG. 6 b in order to show the movement of graphical slider640 b. In a preferred embodiment, the second indicator 625 b will movein a vertical direction as indicated by arrow 660 (also not part of theuser interface) in response to the movement in the graphical slider 640b.

In another preferred embodiment, the score generation is optimized toallow for automatic updating of the second indicator 625 b even before afinal modified value for element 630 b is chosen. More specifically, asthe user selects and drags the modified value bar, the other elements ofthe user interface 601 are modified, updated and displayed before theuser releases the selection of the value bar. As illustrated, the lowerthe value chosen for the modified credit data in element 630 b, thehigher the credit score as indicated by the second indicator 625 b. Inanother embodiment, the consumer may adjust the modified value and then“submit” the value, by clicking on a button, for example, before thesecond indicator 625 b will update. However, it is advantageous toprovide the near-instant update for the second indicator 625 b as itallows the consumer to quickly understand how changing credit dataaffects one's credit-worthiness score.

FIG. 6 c illustrates the user interface 603 after the consumer hasselected final values for his modified data. As noted above, in oneembodiment, user interface 603 reflects the user interface after theconsumer has “submitted” the modified value. While the user interface603 includes the same elements as the first pass display 601, the secondindicator 625 c and data element 630 c have been modified to reflect thechanges submitted by the consumer.

As illustrated, the consumer has adjusted the value of first element 630c to explore the ramifications of a lower revolving balance owed on hiscredit cards. To this effect, the graphical slider 640 c has beendragged to the left to select a value of approximately $1,000. Comparethis with the graphical slider's original position of approximately$20,000, which is also the position of the initial value indicator 635.As discussed with respect to FIGS. 4 and 5, once the value for the totaldebt is submitted as modified credit data, the modified score generator345 recalculates the score and the static data formatter 320 preparesthe new position for the second indicator 625 c for display in the userinterface 603. As discussed above, the recalculation and display of thenew score may have occurred in near-real time, reflecting the changes asthe consumer dragged the graphical slider, or the recalculation may haverequired the consumer to affirmatively submit the newly selectedmodified data. As illustrated, the modified reduction in debt to $1,000has raised the recalculated score indicated by second indicator 625 c toa higher value than the initial score indicated by indicator 620. Thusby selecting a lower debt value via first element 630 c, the consumermay learn that a score improvement may be had by paying off debt andlowering his actual total revolving credit card balance owed.

Although the invention has been described in considerable detail withreference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possibleas will be understood to those skilled in the art. For example, otherembodiments may address financial risk scores other thancredit-worthiness scores. These financial risk scores can predict futureconsumer financial behaviors such as delinquency, bankruptcy, andprofitability.

1-45. (canceled)
 46. A method of presenting a user with a simulatedcredit score, the method being performed on computing hardware, themethod comprising: maintaining, in computer-readable storage, a creditinformation data structure indicative of credit-related informationassociated with a consumer; calculating a first credit score based onthe credit information data structure; transmitting, to a clientcomputer, user interface data configured to cause the client computer todisplay a user interface including a graphical representation of thefirst credit score, the user interface further including one or moreadjustable sliders configured to enable a user of the client computer toadjust one or more credit-related parameters, the user interface datafurther including executable code configured to transmit scoresimulation request data in response to the user adjusting one or more ofthe adjustable sliders; receiving, from the client computer, scoresimulation request data including indications of one or morecredit-related parameter adjustments indicated by the adjusting of theone or more of the adjustable sliders; calculating a second credit scorebased on the credit-related information and the one or morecredit-related parameter adjustments indicated by the adjusting of theone or more of the adjustable sliders; and transmitting, to the clientcomputer, updated user interface data reflecting the second creditscore, the updated user interface data being transmitted in real time inresponse to receiving the score simulation request data.
 47. The methodof claim 46, wherein the graphical representation of the first creditscore comprises an indication of a risk level associated with the firstcredit score.
 48. The method of claim 46, wherein the graphicalrepresentation of the first credit score comprises an indicator of areal credit score and an indicator of a simulated score, and wherein theupdated user interface data reflecting the second credit score isconfigured to cause the indicator of the simulated score to berepositioned according to the second credit score, while the indicatorof the real credit score remains positioned according to the firstcredit score.
 49. The method of claim 46, wherein both the first creditscore and the second credit score are calculated based on the samecredit scoring model.
 50. The method of claim 46, wherein thecredit-related information is based upon credit information receivedfrom a credit bureau.
 51. The method of claim 46, wherein thecredit-related information is based upon information received from theconsumer.
 52. The method of claim 46, wherein the one or more adjustablesliders are configured to enable a user of the client computer to adjustone or more credit-related parameters by dragging a portion respectiveof the one or more adjustable slider with a cursor.
 53. A credit scoresimulation computer system, comprising: a computer-readable storagemedium configured to maintain a credit information data structureindicative of credit-related information associated with a consumer; anetwork communications interface configured to communicate with a clientcomputer via a network; and a computer processor configured to transmit,via the network communications interface, user interface data configuredto cause the client computer to display a user interface including agraphical representation of a first credit score calculated based on thecredit-related information, the user interface further including one ormore adjustable sliders configured to enable a user of the clientcomputer to adjust one or more credit-related parameters; the computerprocessor further configured to transmit updated user interface datareflecting a second credit score calculated based on adjustedcredit-related parameters received from the client computer.
 54. Thecredit score simulation computer system of claim 53, wherein thecomputer processor is configured to transmit the updated user interfacedata in real time subsequent to receiving the adjusted credit-relatedparameters from the client computer.
 55. The method of claim 46, whereinthe graphical representation of the first credit score comprises anindication of a risk level associated with the first credit score. 56.The method of claim 46, wherein the graphical representation of thefirst credit score comprises an indicator of a real credit score and anindicator of a simulated score, and wherein the updated user interfacedata reflecting the second credit score is configured to cause theindicator of the simulated score to be repositioned according to thesecond credit score, while the indicator of the real credit scoreremains positioned according to the first credit score.
 57. The creditscore simulation computer system of claim 53, wherein the first creditscore and the second credit score are calculated based on the samecredit scorecard.
 58. The credit score simulation computer system ofclaim 53, wherein the user interface data further includes executablecode configured to transmit a score simulation request in response tothe user adjusting one or more of the adjustable sliders.
 59. The creditscore simulation computer system of claim 53, wherein the creditinformation data structure is based upon credit information receivedfrom a credit bureau.
 60. The credit score simulation computer system ofclaim 53, wherein the credit-related information is based upon creditinformation received from the consumer.
 61. The credit score simulationcomputer system of claim 53, wherein the one or more adjustable slidersare configured to enable a user of the client computer to adjust one ormore credit-related parameters by dragging a portion of a slider with amouse cursor.
 62. A computing system comprising: one or more computerprocessors configured to execute instructions; a computer-readablemedium storing executable instructions that, in response to execution bythe one or more computer processors, cause the computing system to:display a user interface including a graphical representation of a firstcredit score calculated based on credit-related information provided bya user of the user interface, the user interface further including oneor more adjustable sliders configured to enable the user to adjust oneor more credit-related parameters; and update the user interface todisplay a second credit score calculated based on receiving adjustmentsmade by the user to at least one of the one or more adjustable sliders.63. The computing system of claim 62, wherein the executableinstructions are further configured to cause the computing system toupdate the user interface to display the second credit score in realtime subsequent to receiving the adjustments made by the user to the atleast one of the one or more adjustable sliders.
 64. The computingsystem of claim 62, wherein the graphical representation of the firstcredit score comprises an indicator of a real credit score and anindicator of a simulated score, and wherein the updated user interfacedisplaying the second credit score is configured to cause the indicatorof the simulated score to be repositioned according to the second creditscore, while the indicator of the real credit score remains positionedaccording to the first credit score.
 65. The computing system of claim62, wherein the first credit score is calculated based on a creditscorecard and the second credit score is calculated based on the samecredit scorecard.